CAMERON GREAVES FROM CROOK SENTENCED FOR HORRIFIC ANIMAL AND CHILD ABUSE VIDEOS

Cameron Greaves, a man residing in Crook, has been convicted in 2024 of possessing and sharing extremely disturbing material involving both animal cruelty and child exploitation. The investigation into Greaves’s activities was conducted by Durham Constabulary, which uncovered a disturbing collection of videos and images stored on his electronic devices, including an iPhone and other gadgets.

These devices revealed a large hoard of graphic and sadistic videos depicting acts of animal torture, many of which contained sexual elements. The footage included horrifying scenes of animals, such as dogs and puppies, being subjected to brutal acts of cruelty and torture. Some videos showed animals being mutilated or killed in ways that were both violent and sexually motivated. Among these videos was a particularly gruesome one, approximately an hour long, which Greaves had purchased for £70 through online chat rooms. The investigation also uncovered that Greaves had sought to acquire additional material originating from Adam Britton, a disgraced zoologist recently jailed in Australia for torturing and raping animals, including dogs and puppies.

In addition to the animal abuse content, authorities found hundreds of images and videos categorized as A, B, and C level child abuse material. These files depicted children in situations of pain and distress, and Greaves was found to have been downloading such material on the very day he was arrested. Prosecutor Charlie Thompson detailed that Greaves had engaged in online exchanges requesting increasingly extreme content, explicitly stating that he wanted “the harder the better” material from a like-minded individual he communicated with.

Thompson further explained that some of the videos involved the torture and killing of animals for pleasure, including scenes of dogs being tortured to death and a puppy being sawed in half. One of the videos was noted to be around an hour long, and Greaves had actively purchased such videos through online chat rooms, demonstrating a disturbing pattern of behavior. The investigation also revealed that Greaves possessed child abuse images involving children in states of pain and distress.

Greaves’s criminal record includes an 18-month prison sentence handed down in May 2024 for possession of indecent images and two counts of voyeurism committed in 2022, when he secretly took photographs of two males. He was also subjected to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) and required to register as a sex offender for the next ten years.

In relation to his latest charges, Greaves pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images, one count of possessing extreme pornography, and one count of possessing a prohibited image. His defense lawyer, Cole Cockburn, argued that Greaves’s offending was driven by an addiction to pornography and that he had expressed deep remorse and shame for his actions. Cockburn highlighted that Greaves was of previously good character and had been well regarded by colleagues before his incarceration, stating, “He was well liked before his incarceration. Those he worked with spoke highly of him.”

During sentencing, Judge Adams addressed Greaves directly, emphasizing the severity of his crimes. The judge stated, “You had videos of animals being tortured, mutilated and killed, many with a sexual element.” He also noted that a police officer who had viewed some of the videos described them as “some of the most disturbing they had ever viewed as part of their professional duties.”

As a result, Greaves was sentenced to an additional 10 months in prison, which will be served consecutively, bringing his total incarceration period to 18 months. This sentence will run alongside his previous sentence, reflecting the gravity of his offenses and the serious nature of the crimes committed in Crook and beyond.